Dispensing mechanism for packaged window material



F. L. WHIPPLE Oct. 14, 1958 DISPENSING MECHANISM FOR PACKAGED WINDOVIHMATERIAL Filed Jan. 16. 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 mmf INVENTOR. FEZ-' /4/////p f Oct. 14, 1958 F. 1 .wHlPPLE 2,356,185

DISPENSING MECHANISM FOR PACKAGED WINDOW MATERIAL Filed Jan. 16. 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. F650 l. WA//P F. L. WHIPPLE Oct. 14, 1958 DISEENSING MECHANISM FOR PACKAGED WINDOW MATERIAL Filed Jan. 16. 1952 3 Sheets-SheetI 3 4 mw ,Q ha

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DISPENSING MECHANISM FOR PACKGED WINDOW MATERIAL Fred L. Whipple, Belmont, Mass., assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force Application January 16, 1952, Serial No. 266,743 1 Claim. (Cl. 271--2.3)

This invention Vrelates to a device for stripping the tapes from packaged metallic strips known as window which are used in warfare to confuse enemy radar observance. This confusion is brought about `by scattering the metallic strips in air so that radar waves will be reflected back and will blur the enemys radarscopes.

More specifically this invention relates to a dispensing device which is adapted to remove paper strips from a row of packages that contain the window material, said device being adapted to be mounted in an airplane within a chute through which the opened containers of the window material may be dropped into the atmosphere below the airplane. It is not necessary for each container to be opened further, since the window will be distributed by falling out of the containers without any further operation.

Still more specifically, it is the purpose of this invention to provide a flexible double drive for a tape stripper in order to maintain the constant ow of tape through the dispenser without loss of the tape alignment for which it is intended. Previous dispensers of a somewhat similar type have been prone to slip and jam on account of stripping gears. ln the present invention, one set of gears meshes with the other, the tapes being fed into the nip between them. The gears in the previous types when forced apart by any unusual increase in load, were put out of commission because only one gear was driven and the tape was contacted by the driven gear only, while the idle gear stopped. The tape then ceased to be stripped. By providing the mechanism herein described such difficulties are eliminated because the gears will be driven even though they are out of mesh due to overload and tape stripping will not cease as long as taped packages are fed into the machine.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of a series of window packages, which series may be of indefinite length. The connection of the packages by means of tape is shown, and the special seal for the package is illustrated.

Figure 2 is a reverse plan view of the dispenser, i. e. a view taken upward from below.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the dispenser, the gearing and associated parts shown in dashed lines.

`Figure 4 is a cross-section of the dispenser taken along the line of 4-4 of Figure 2 and shows the construction of the displaceable gear-driving shaft and its chain drive.

Figure 5 is a cross-section taken along the line of 5-5 of Figure 2 and shows the gears tape stripping in their elastic mounting.

Figure 6 is a sectional and partly schematic illustration of the use of the machine in connection with a dispensing chute.

Fig. 7 is a view taken on line 7-7 of Fig. l.

Referring again to Figures 1 and 7, 10 is a cardboard package of generally oblong shape which contains the window material. A plurality of the containers 10 are arranged crosswise of a pair of paper tapes 11 to form a series which may be of any preferred length. The containers 10 are provided with a pair of top flaps 12 and 12 which are attached to the container body 13 at the rear and front edges 14 respectively, The upper top ap 12 is pierced with two openings 15 and 16 respectively at one end of the container leaving a paper strip 17 extending nearly across the entire width of the upper top ap 12. The elements 15, 16 and 17 are repeated at the opposite end of the upper top ilap 12. Short end flaps 18 are tucked between the upper and the lower top aps 12 and 12'. The lower top ap 12 has an opening aligned with each pair of openings 15, 16 in the upper top flap 12. Connected to the sides of the opening in the lower top flap 12 by semi-perforated strips are flap sections 12" which are respectively extended up through openings 15 and 16 in the upper top ap 12 to meet across strips 17. Each tape 11 is adhesively attached to and seals together the flap sections 12" which meet across strips 17 which ap sections are semiperforatedly connected to the lower top ap 12. Pulling the tape 11 off the package 10 ruptures the paper stock which perforatedly is connected to the sides of the opening in the lower top ap 12 and thereby leaves the package free to open in the airplanes slipstream since the adhesive is not spread onto the cross strip 17 Referring now to Figures 2 to 5 inclusive, 20 is a box frame, preferably of sheet metal which is best visualized in Figures 4 and 5. Frame 20 is provided at its upper edge with a discontinuous flange 21 in which there are a number of spaced holes 22 through which bolts (not shown) can be passed for the purpose of bolting the machine to the head of a chute, which is also not shown, because it is a conventional construction in airplanes adapted to distribute windowf At one side of the frame 2d there is bolted a gear drive housing 23a 'to which is attached an electric motor 24 which drives a speed reducer 23. lt is to be understood that the amount of gear reduction will depend upon the speed of the motor 24. The speed reducer 23 is adapted to drive a shaft 25 which is disposed across the frame 20 and mounted in bearings 26 for rotary movement only. Bearings 26 are, in turn, fixedly mounted on frame end plates v3:1. There are preferably an equal number of gears 27 mounted on the shaft 25 at either end thereof. The gears 27 as shown in Figures 2 and 3 mesh with a similar set of gears 2S, these being similarly arranged upon a second and parallel shaft 29. The shafts 25 and 29 and their associated parts are mounted in the box frame 20 by being slid through open ended slots 30 provided in a pair of intermediate cross plate members 31. The slots 3d are pro-vided for facilitating mounting the shafts 25 and 29 with their associated parts in the box frame 20 without disassembling the shafts 25 and 29 and their associated parts before mounting. In addition, the cross plate members 31 and the frame end plates 31 are each formed with a slot 30 aligned transversely of the box frame 20 and through which extends shaft 29, the slots 3d being angled to permit upward movement of the shaft 29 and its associated parts for the purposes hereinafter described. Also each slot 30 in the intermediate cross plate members 31 is arranged in communication with one of the mounting slots 30 therein and forms an extension thereof. It should also be understood that while the shaft 25 is rotatably supported in the box frame 2t) by the bearings 26, the shaft 29 is supported in the box frame 20 by the slots 30 in the box frame end sides 31', as shown in Figures 2 and 6, and by the bearings 29a. i Gears 27 and 2S together constitute a pair of gear sets which are adapted to strip the tapes 11 from the series of packages 10 when the tapes 11 are fed into the nips 32 of the two gear sets. Only one tape is fed at any one time into one gear set, however, both tapes 11 are fed into the two gear` sets simultaneously. A set of fingers 33 extends from the frame 20 between the gears 27 and` 28 to `prevent the entrance of tapes or other foreign material into the spaces between the individual gears. The function of the shaft 29 and its associated gears 28 is to act as a yieldable member in case an overload of tape or other foreign material isffedV into the nip 32 of the gear sets. A slot wise mounting of the shaft 29 in the slots is provided for that purpose. A chain drive comprises sprockets 34 on shaft 25 and 35 on shaft 29. Over these sprockets there is operatively disposed a drive chain 36 which travels entirely upon the box frame 20 through an opening 37 in the rear wall 38 of the box frame, the chain 36 eventually being looped over a sprocket 39 which is elastically mounted upon a hinged carrier 40.

The carrier 40 has a lever 41 across which there is disposed a rotatable shaft 42 which carries the sprocket 39. The carrier 40 is pivoted about a pivot 43 which traverses the lower end of the lever 41 and a pair of lugs 44 which project outwardly from the wall 38 near the'lower portion thereof. Shocks to which the chain 36 is subjected are absorbed in a coil spring 55 which is disposed about a pin 49 pivoted by a pivot 47 to an outwardly curved strut 48 which is the member by which the entire carrier is pivoted to the lugs 44 through pivot 43.

As will be seen best from Figure 2, the shaft 29 and its associated parts is held into driven engagement with the shaft 25 and its associated parts by a pair of coil springs 45 which are attached to the box frame 28 at the interior thereof and are looped over grooved pulleys 46 mounted on shaft 29 with sucient tightness so as to engage the gears 27 and 28 of the two gear sets so that they may strip olf tape from the packages Without being forced apart so long as they are doing normal duty.

If and when an overload does occur, the gears 27 and 28 are forced out of mesh, but continue to revolve, thereby helping to clear any jam which may have occurred. The reason for the continued revolution of the gears is the chain drive. The shaft 29 and sprocket 35 are lifted by the increased pull on the chain 36 upwardly into the curved portion of the slots 30. The shaft 29 of course, carried its gears 28 with it, the distance of the top end of slot 30 from the normal position of the shaft 29 being such that it is longer than the length of the gear teeth in gears 28. The shaft 29 when displaced upward carries with it its bearings 29a which may be grooved (grooves not shown) to receive the edges of slots 30 in the intermediate cross plates 31 to keep the shaft and bearings centered in the frame 10. During this lift, the spring which has been previously compressed to some degree, extends suiciently to keep the chain 36 tight by pivoting the strut 48 on the pivot 43. The strut 48 moves away from the frame 20 when it does this, and against the tension of the coil springs 45.

For the purpose of manually opening the gear sets for the insertion of tape, two levers 49 are provided. As

can be seen in Figure 5, these levers 49 bear on the shaft i 29 and when pressed oppose the tension of the springs 45. The levers 49 are capable of displacing the shaft 29 into the curved slots 30', thus throwing the gears 28 out of mesh. When the operator ceases to press on the levers 49 the gears again mesh.

Referring now to Figure 6, which illustrates the use of the machine, 50 is a hopper-type magazine in which a tape connected series of packages 10 is laid in zig-zag fashion, the bottom row thereof being laid through a chute 51 which may extend under the inner fuselage floor 52 of the airplane. The dispensing machine 53 is mounted on the floor 52 above the chute 51 near its preferably ared exit 54 which extends out of the bottom or side of the fuselage. The tapes 11 may be fed through the nip of the gears 27 and 28 while the latter are stopped out of mesh. The gears 27 and 28, when again meshed and energized, act to pull the series of packages 10 through the tunnel and eject them when stripped of tape through the exit 54. The machine is therefore more than a tape stripper; it acts to empty the magazine 50 as Well when used in combination with the structure shown in Figure 6. Suitable access doors (not shown) may be provided in the chute 51 in the neighborhood of thel machine 53 to facilitate the introduction of the tapes 11 from below to the gears of the machine.

I claim:

Apparatus for dispensing articles interconnected by a continuous tape comprising a frame having opposed parallel end plates on opposite ends thereof, and intermediate cross plate members spaced in parallel relation therebetween, a drive shaft transversely mounted between said end plates for rotation only, aligned angled slots in said end plates and said cross plate members, a driven shaft mounted in said aligned angled slots parallel to said drive shaft, said cross plate members having vertical slots in opencommunication with said angled slots at the upper end thereof and open at the lower end thereof and said end plates having identical vertical slots in alignment with said vcross plate vertical slots facilitating the mounting of said shafts in said frame, a rst plurality of gears mounted on said drive shaft adjacent each end thereof in the space between said end plates and said cross plate members, a second plurality of gears mounted on said driven shaft normally meshing with said first plurality of gears to receive and drive said continuous tape therebetween, a drive sprocket mounted on said drive shaft at an intermediate position inwardly of said intermediate cross plate members, a driven sprocket mounted `on said driven shaft, a continuous drive chain resiliently interconnecting said sprockets, biasing means normally urging said driven shaft towards one position in said aligned angled slots and said plurality of gears mounted thereon in meshing engagement with said plurality of gears mounted on said drive shaft, said plurality of meshing gears removing the continuous tape from a plurality of tape-interconnected articles on insertion of one end of said Vcontinuous tape between said meshing gears, said driven shaft movable towards a second position in said aligned angled slots against the normal urging of said biasing means to disengage the meshing engagement of the plurality of gears mounted thereon from the plurality of gears mounted on said drive shaft on an overload of tape between said meshing gears, manually operable means pivoted to said frame between a normally inactive position and an active position in contact with said driven shaft to move said driven shaft to said second position prior t-o the insertion of tape between said meshing gears, and means operably engaged with said drive chain maintaining continuous resilient pressure thereon and absorbing any shocks on said drive chain, said means consisting of a hinged carrier comprising a lever pivoted to one side of said frame at its lower end and having a lower vertical forked portion terminating in an upper outwardly curved strut portion having a pair of spaced parallel arms, a rotatably mounted shaft intermediately positioned across said lever, a third sprocket mounted on said shaft between said arms, and resilient shock means pivoted to the upper end of said lever remote from its pivot to said frame, said resilient shock means consisting of a pin pivoted at one end to the upper end of said arms and extending through one side wall of said frame at its other end and a coil spring surrounding said pin and compressed between said side Wall and said last named pivot normally urging said lever and the sprocket carried thereon in a direction away from said side wall to maintain said drive chain ina taut condition.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,876,369 Waterworth Sept. 6, 1932 2,185,079 Hall Dec. 26, 1939 2,265,332 Woodington Dec. 9, 1941 2,348,355 Miller May 9, 1944 2,435,795 Quinlan Feb. 10, 1948 

